


Tick Tock

by connorssock



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Abduction, Android Gavin Reed, Gavin Reed Whump, Human Nines, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Psychological Torture, Robo-gore, Torture, reverse au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:27:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21512998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/connorssock/pseuds/connorssock
Summary: It was almost tradition for Gavin to be late. But when he didn't show up for work at all, Nines got annoyed. He regretted his frustration and less than charitable thoughts when an e-mail with a video was sent to him. It was Gavin. He was in trouble.
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 17
Kudos: 288





	Tick Tock

Rumour was that Nines was more robotic than his android partner. Nothing made him break, his whole life revolved around his job and anything beyond that was frills he didn’t need or appreciate. He had a reputation for getting things done. For not letting anything get in the way of his career, for getting results. Sometimes, when people met him and Gavin for the first time, they assumed Nines was the android to Gavin’s human detective. Finding out that it was the other way round worked in their favour. Gavin was a lot more resistant to bullets and easier to repair than Nines.

Of course their partnership didn’t run a smooth course. Gavin loved to take shortcuts where he could, bent the rules to his own liking so they still operated within the law but in a way that worked for him. By contrast, Nines did everything by the letter of the law. His reports were more perfect than an android could ever get them. Nobody quite knew where the two drew the line in their relationship. Rumours had it that Nines once smiled at Gavin. But despite the two of them seemingly barely tolerating anyone else, they seemed to slot around each other seamlessly.

Still, it wasn’t all that unusual for them to be sniping at each other. Gavin’s favourite thing was to get to work late. It was almost routine by that point, Nines would comment on exactly how late Gavin was and in response, he’d be informed that they worked exactly that amount of unpaid overtime the day before so Gavin was entitled to those precious handful of minutes. Even so, it was unusual for Gavin not to be at work within 10 minutes of the start of his shift. Nines shifted in his seat and eyed the clock, face blank and passive. As time ticked by, Nines stopped waiting for Gavin, work needed to be done. Knowing that didn’t stop him from worrying internally. A full hour after Gavin should have been there, his e-mails pinged with a new message from an unidentified sender.

Opening it, Nines wished he’d thought twice. It was a video, one that showed Gavin slumped in a chair, a charging cable shoved roughly into the port at the back of his neck. He looked barely operational. At least, for now, there was no thirium leaking from anywhere visible so Nines was hopeful he was simply fighting a virus raging through his systems.

“As you can see,  _ Nines _ , your partner is alive. Low on power, we’re being very generous and keeping him trickle charged. He can’t enter stasis but he doesn’t have enough charge for anything other than processing his chassis and be aware of his environment. He is really quite vulnerable like this. You’ll be hearing from us again soon, be prepared to meet our demands.”

The video cut out and Nines stared at the e-mail. Someone had Gavin. They were going to pay. He barged into Fowler’s office, ignored unimpressed look and told him in no uncertain terms to end the call he was on.

“I don’t know what makes you think you can-”

“Gavin’s been abducted.” Nines cut him off and instantly Fowler’s demeanour changed. The kidnapping of an officer was a serious offence, not one that could be investigated internally. Once Fowler had seen the video, he was on the phone, this was a matter for the SWAT team.

Numb, Nines sat in the office, opposite his captain. He wasn’t listening to the grumbled, slightly panicked discussions, all he could think about was how lifeless Gavin had looked. The way he was slumped in the chair, his favourite jacket torn at the shoulder, no doubt from some rough handling when he put up a fight. There was a coffee stain on his collar. Obviously he’d been snatched after he picked up his customary drink that always ended up on Nines’ desk and was always Nines’ favourite.

The SWAT team picked up the case, took statements from Nines, Connor, Fowler, those who were the last to see Gavin at work. The coffee shop's CCTV proved that Gavin had been there in the morning, exactly on schedule for his regular time. Traffic cameras could pinpoint where Gavin had got to and where he should have reappeared on recordings. But he never turned up. Neither did he surface on any of the nearby ones. It was almost like he had been pulled below the surface of the earth, never to return.

At exactly ten the next day, Nines received another e-mail. This time, the subject line said  _ Look what you’ve done _ . This time, Nines opened it in Fowler’s office, in the company of his own captain and Captain Allen from SWAT too.

On screen, Gavin was still slumped in the same chair, his LED an unforgiving red. There were heavily modulated voices calling out to him, taunting him.

“Told you nobody would come for you. We even gave them the address on a silver platter in the first video. But an outdated piece of junk like you isn’t worth even sending the recycling team for.”

The curve of Gavin’s spine became more pronounced as he tried to curl in on himself, to block out the words. He whimpered a soft “no” over and over again. To Nines, it was so obvious that Gavin was beyond being able to rationally process things, reacting to the hurt and taking everything given as fact.

“Not even your precious Nines could be bothered. You were nothing more than a convenience, a bucket of rusted bolts. Barely worth the energy to keep around but left behind when effort needs to be made to retrieve. Pathetic. And to think you believed someone could love you. Even better, someone like Nines could love you.”

A round of laughter went up when tears spilled down Gavin’s cheeks. His whimper of “Nines” was lost but it was still easy enough to read on his lips. Through it all, Nines sat and watched it without a single expression, no outcry of anguish, no harsh intake of breath. Reactionless and rigid, he watched Gavin cry as he was told he was worthless, unlovable, beyond repair. When the video ended and discussions about it started up, he excused himself and returned to work.

As the day wore on, he kept his focus on his cases. Building evidence files into solid proof against criminals, conducting interviews as if nothing was different. As though Gavin’s spot next to him wasn’t achingly empty. That night, he returned home and refused to wonder where Gavin was and how he fared. The SWAT team were on it, they were better equipped to find Gavin and retrieve him. Nines was too close, he knew that. So there was no point in wasting precious time and emotions on fretting. Gavin would be back and then Nines would help rebuild him from whatever damage had been wrought. That knowledge didn’t stop him from pushing the stolen USB into his laptop and watching the two videos over and over again, late into the night. There was nothing in them to be able to gleam a location or identity from but he still had to try.

For the third day in a row, Nines got another e-mail and another video attachment. This time, the captor was a lot more chatty, taking great delight in outlining how Gavin had cried the whole night and it was pathetic as well as sickening. So there was only one solution. In the video, someone grabbed Gavin by the hair and forced his head back, pulling a bewildered and pained cry from him.

“I forgot,” the voice of the captor purred, “deviants feel things. Such as pain. I guess this is going to hurt then.”

A screwdriver was driven into the side of Gavin’s throat and his mouth fell open on a scream but on a few static splutters and sparks came out before even those fell away.

“There,” the captor sighed, pulling the screwdriver out, “blessed silence.”

The video cut out and Nines was gripping his knees harshly to stop every emotion spilling from him. He couldn’t get the image of Gavin screaming soundlessly in agony as the screwdriver wrecked his vocal modulator.

“They certainly know their way around android anatomy,” Fowler commented. Even he looked shaken by what they’d seen. “We need him out of there fast. Get your team on it, pull whatever strings you need.”

Next to him, Allen nodded. His jaw was set, body rigid. Nobody liked seeing someone in pain, much less someone they had a loose connection to. Neither he nor Fowler noticed Nines take a copy of the video as they discussed potential leads. However, none of them were significant, merely musings over shadows and glitches in the video.

In the meantime, Nines’ caseload was diminishing. Fowler didn’t want to add to his stress, tried to spare him where possible. It also meant he was free to focus on the videos, putting together files and notes of observations on each and every one. Even the one that came in the next day, one where the captors were digging around in Gavin’s wires, making his back arch with silent screams. However, there was no stopping the tears trickling down his cheeks. As open as his chassis was, Nines could see how all of Gavin’s systems were blaring red.

“Watch this,” the captor announced gleefully. On the screen, Gavin’s chest panel had been pried off and discarded to the side. “Nines isn’t coming. He doesn’t care about you, even when we’ve been sending him videos of you.”

The red lights throughout Gavin’s chassis stuttered in time with his thirium pump. Whatever his tormentors had done to him, he couldn’t shut down, couldn’t do anything other than endure. Nines almost put his fist through the monitor.

It was the first night Nines had nightmares about Gavin. Reaching him just in time for him to finally override the forced programming and shut down. Nines woke up clutching at his limp blanket with harsh gasps and a tear streaked face. He didn’t go back to sleep until he was due at work again.

It was the fourth day Gavin was missing, in a way, it felt so much longer. Nines dreaded going to work, of seeing another video. The anticipation was killing him, mind conjuring up worse and worse ideas of what they could so to Gavin next. Each minute ticked by, an eternity that flew past. At ten o’clock, Nines braced himself and waited for the e-mail. It didn’t come. Not even when he refreshed the browser. By quarter past, Fowler had come out of his office to ask and they both waited together for a little while longer.

Eventually, Fowler had to get back to work, he patted Nines on the shoulder with a gruff “let me know if anything comes in” and returned to his office. For the whole day, Nines was on edge. Each ping of a new message sent his heart into his throat. On the outside, he needed to stay stoic, not give anything away. But on the inside, he was falling apart. He went home and, for the first time in years, punched his pillow before screaming into it. Because a day without a video of Gavin was worse than having footage to prove that he was at least still alive. If anybody challenged Nines on that idea, he would have killed in that moment. Androids, deviants at least, were alive. He would dare anyone to look at Gavin, take in his moods, the way words could make him preen or angrily lash out and then look Nines in the eyes and say it was all a pre-programmed response.

By the time morning rolled around again, Nines felt like he’d been put through the wringer. He had barely slept a wink, each time he closed his eyes, his mind was conjuring up ways Gavin could be hurt. Or thinking he was already shut down, his last thought being how nobody cared enough to spare him the agonising end he had endured. Thoughts like that were never helpful but Nines was sinking rapidly. He almost didn’t want to drag himself to work, dreading another day without a video.

The wish for a video rather than nothing was a mistake. Because while Nines got what he hoped for, it was as bad as his mind could have made it. It started with Gavin tied to a chair, head forced back as someone straddled his lap and way prying away his chassis. The neck panels clattered to the ground, peeled slowly away from Gavin’s body. It was slow enough that Nines could see the wires connecting to the sensors tighten and stretch before pinging in half. That had to hurt. The captors weren’t satisfied with just the neck panels being removed. They set about on the jaw ones too. Those were so much more sensitive, Nines could just about see Gavin shaking and crying out without a voice as they were slowly ripped off. Soon, the whole lower half of Gavin’s face was exposed. At least the captors stopped there with their ministrations. Unfortunately, they picked up pliers and tweezers, twisted wires and made Gavin convulse and they laughed at how he couldn’t scream.

It was one of the longest videos yet and all three of those who watched it looked shaken. Even more so when a message popped up.

“You were taking too long. So we moved and made things easier for you to find. You’d better hurry though, your android is rapidly ceasing to be fun.”

Nines turned on Allen and Fowler with a desperate growl. “Why have we got nothing? What’s taking so long?”

He didn’t mention how his own investigation into it had come up blank. There were no leads, no connecting factors. If the captors’ aim was to torment Nines, it could have been anyone he had helped arrest and convict in the past, or their relatives. There was a vast ocean of illwishers out there and Nines had no hopes of narrowing it down. The frustration was enough to make him want to cry but he couldn’t, he wouldn’t. Not in public, not where anyone could see him. There would be plenty of time to cry later, when they got Gavin back. Whether he returned in a bodybag or not was a whole different matter.

Fowler sent him home for the rest of the day. There was no work for him anyway. Not like he would have been able to focus on something as simple as filling out a parking fine form, let alone the usual kinds of cases he worked. Nines took his folders home with him though. Spread them out in his living room to stare at, watch the videos in the hope that something he’d missed might jump out. Instead, he fell asleep on his sofa, still in his work clothes.

Work greeted him with Allen by his desk, he was twiddling a device and when Nines approached, he actually smiled.

“We’ll set this up to your account, then we might be able to track the bastards down.”

Blind hope was the last thing Nines needed but it was all he had. Nodding, he and Allen worked through the steps so by the time ten rolled around, they were ready. As expected, the e-mail came through and Nines hit play on the video. He wished he hadn’t though. Gavin was slumped in the chair until someone pulled him up, none too gently, to face the camera. His eyes were a solid black, unseeing.

“We got tired of the waterworks,” a voice grumbled playfully. “Isn’t it fascinating how even with damaged optical units, an android can cry? I wonder if it could shed tears without eyes at all?”

A figure pinned Gavin down, head forced painfully back. The lights from his exposed jaw were read, flashing in alarm. A sickening, fizzling pop later, something was thrown carelessly to the ground and it rolled away. A second one followed not long after and the captors moved away.

“Huh,” the one speaking before piped up, “would you look at that. The tears can still come.”

The video cut out and Nines threw the pen he’d been clutching across the office. He almost missed the grim “got them” from Allen.

A team was scrambled and Nines refused to be benched. He promised to stay behind for the action but he wanted to be there when Gavin was released. Even if Gavin didn’t want him there, he needed to see to the fact that he was taken good care of.

In a way, it was all terribly anticlimactic. The SWAT team swooped in, rounded up the perpetrators and carted them off. The last room to clear of the suburban house was, in stereotypical fashion, the basement. It was all concrete floors and windowless walls. Nines hurried down there when he was given the okay. A technician was already looking at the charging cable jammed into Gavin’s port but there was no warmth, no care for Gavin himself. Rushing in, Nines dropped to his knees with a softly breathed “Gav” which had Gavin jolting in surprise. His mouth moved but one static came out, along with a few sparks from his exposed throat.

“I’m here. I’m sorry. I should have been quicker.” Nines was breathing hard, the emotions he’d been holding at bay clamouring for release at long last. He almost missed Gavin blindly reaching for him. Taking his hands, Nines guided them to his cheeks, pressed kisses to each palm.

“It’s me. I’m here. I’m not leaving you again, I’m so sorry.”

Nines didn’t expect Gavin to jerkily lean down and try to press a kiss to the top of his head. Even without words, Gavin had managed to say more than Nine with all his apologies. The moment was interrupted by the technician finally disconnecting Gavin from the charger and he jolted harshly before slumping down, all internal lights blinking out one after the other. Nines panicked as he slipped down the chair and had to be held. In the end, it was easiest for Nines to cradle Gavin to his chest, frantically calling his name.

“He’ll be fine. Easiest and kindest to let him sleep through repairs.” The technician rounded on Nines and motioned to the trolley.

Stubbornly refusing, Nines carried Gavin up the stairs and to the waiting car which would take him for repairs. Settling into the back, Nines glared at the driver when questioned about his presence. A wave of his badge fended off any further issues.

The repair lab was cold and impersonal, even a hospital had more cheer. Then again, androids liked to maintain that they didn’t need anything beyond replacement parts and thirium. So perhaps it worked to an android’s sensibilities but not to a human’s. Either way, Nines tried not to care beyond the fact that Gavin was getting the help he needed.

From the side of the room, Nines watched as the port in Gavin’s neck was repaired, a systems diagnostic started running as new neck and jaw panels were carefully laid down and attached to the bare frame. A new voice modulator was swapped in for the damaged one, even the chest panel ended up being replaced. Slowly but surely, Gavin was being put back together. New optical units were fitted but, much to Nines’ dismay, they weren’t the arresting myriad of greens and hazel that he was used to. Close enough but just different enough to make him feel that it wasn’t quite Gavin who was going to be looking out at him through them.

At long last, the technicians seemed pleased with their work. Nines watched as Gavin was allowed to initialise rebooting and the process to install the new hardware started. Meanwhile, one of the technicians approached Nines.

“While repairs have been successful, do you wish for the memories to be retained? Such traumatic events can have consequences.”

On one hand, those were Gavin’s memories and Nines didn’t feel he should have a say in whether Gavin keeps them or not. But at the same time, he struggled to imagine why anyone would want to keep them when they didn’t have to. He watched as Gavin’s skin covered the new chassis, blinked a little at how strange Gavin looked without his usual scruffy stubble until that faded into view too. If Nines could spare him the trauma of the events, he would, he’d do anything to see Gavin smiling again.

“Do it. Let him think it was a data corruption.”

“Very well.” The technician retreated and began typing away on their terminal. “Gavin should be waking up in 2 minutes with the last five days of data corrupted beyond any hope of recovery.”

With that, the technicians left, allowing Nines and Gavin a reunion in private. As promised, Gavin blinked back into awareness, wrong coloured eyes taking in the world with a frown.

“The fuck happened?”

“There was an accident. You’re okay now though and that’s all that matters.” Nines stepped forward and relished the way Gavin all but tumbled into his hug. He could deal with everything, the backlash from letting Gavin forget, the wrong coloured eyes, the nightmares that would no doubt chase him. All that matter was that Gavin was back, safe and whole. Nines sagged into the hold and buried his face in Gavin’s hair. It was good to have him back. So good.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr as @connorssock.


End file.
